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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet'1.

. S. S. BURT.

TYPE. WRITING MACHINE. No. 317,499. Patented May 12, 1885.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 sfsmm r.

' TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 317,499. Patented May 12, 1885.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Nb Model.)

' S. S. BURT.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 317,499. Patented May. 12, 1885.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5'.

S.S. BURT.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. No. 317,499. Patented May 12,1885.

I :ml "2?? a i. lllllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC SAMUEL S. BURT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T ALVINUS B. WOOD, OF ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.

TYPE- WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,499, dated May 12, 1885.

Application filed March' 5, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. BURT, of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Type-Writers, of

which the following is a specification.

My improved type-writer has the following parts A frame whose base is of rectangular form and the top sloping from rear to front; a scale marked upon the top bar at the rear end of said frame; a rack-bar upon which moves a sliding carriage; a platen or basepiece on which the paper rests; a feed-roller having combined therewith a paper-holder marked with a scale corresponding to the scale on the bar before mentioned; a sliding carriage provided with an indicator having letters and other characters marked thereon a rotating type-dial provided with types corre sponding to the characters. on said indicator;

a printing key or lever which, through suitable connections, actuates a plunger, the latter forcing the types upon the paper; mechanism for depressing and rotating the type-dial; a coiled spring or equivalent device which furnishes the power to propel the carriage from side to side; an escapement whereby the spacin g between the letters is secured; space-keys connected through suitable levers with the escapement, by means of which the spacing 0 may be accomplished independently of the printing-lever means for withdrawing the pallets of the escapement to allow the carriage to be thrown back; an inking-plate, which forms the bottom plate of the carriage, provided with a slot through which the type is forced in'printin g and an inking-ribbon upon which the types are forced each time a letter is printed.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a transverse cross-section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a crosssection taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, some of the parts being omitted. Fig. 4.- is a side elevation of the roller upon which the paper is car- 5 ried. Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the carriage and rack-bar, the inking-plate and type-dial being removed to show the mechanism for rotating the type-dial. Fig. 6 is a detail view (side elevation) of the lever and other devices for operating the escapement. Figs. 7 and 8 are also detail views of the same, showing particularly the detents which engage with the teeth of the rack-bar. Fig. 9 is a bottom view of the type-dial having two types thereon. Fig. 10 is a top view of the inking-plate and inking-ribbon, showing also the slot or opening through which the types are forced, and Figs. 11 to 21, inclusive, are detail views of detached parts, which figures will be more fully described when describing such parts.

The frame A is made preferably of light metal bars, and is rectangular-in its outline, except that the rear side is higher than the front and the top is beveled or slopes toward the front. A bar, 1, forms the top and rear of 6 the frame, and is marked with a scale to correspond to the whole numberof letters, figures, punctuation, and other characters on the type-dial. An index is provided on the sliding carriage, which points to the scale on bar 1 as the carriage advances. The paper is carried upon a roller, 3, whose ends rest in the end bars of the frame, and having at one end a milled head, 4, by which it is rotated to advance the paper. This roller (shown in Fig. 4) has parallel grooves out around its body, which facilitate the even and true movement of the paper. The paperlis held upon said roller by means of a paper-holder, 5, which is hung upon a rolling bar, 6, whose ends turn freely in the end bars of the frame-work. This holder (shown in Fig. 2) has its down-hanging portion long, and heavy enough so that the holder, being pivioted in the rear of the center of roller 3, will be sufficient to hold the paper 8 firmly without the aid of springs or other devices. Its upper end may be of substantially the same curve as roller 3, and its lower portion less curved, so as not to break the paper. This holder is marked witha scale correspondo ing to the scale on bar 1. The paper passes from the roller over a platen or bar, 7 ,.parallel to said roller and having its ends secured in the ends of the frame. i

The sliding carriage B is formed of a top 5 plate, 0, secured upon side bars, I) b, which are sleeved at their rear ends upon a rack-bar, 2, the latter extending longitudinally across the frame, its ends passing through said frame, and being provided with burrs or nuts, whereby 1 00 said rack-bar may be adjusted. Rack-bar 2 turns freely in the ends ofv the frame, and carries on its front side a rack, c.

The power by which the carriage is propelled along the rack-bar is furnished by a spring coiled within a drum or barrel, D, provided with cogs d, which engage with the teeth of rack c. The spring E has one of its ends fastened to a center pin or post, 6, and the other to the inner wall of barrel D. This device is shown, partly in dotted lines, in Fig. l, and is also shownin Figs. 2 and 5.

The spacing or escapement mechanism consists of a lever, F, pivoted upon the inside of one of the side bars, b. Lever F carries at its rear end a fixed detent,j, and on its opposite side a spring-detent, f. Lever F has a vertical movement, and its detents are so arranged that the vertical oscillation of the lever will throw one of said detents into and the other out of engagement with the rack, thus making the spacing positive and putting the movement of the carriage completely under control. A flat spring, G, is fastened to the under side of top plate, 0, its free end press ing a stop, 9, on lever F, so that the inner end of said lever is always returned against top plate, (3, after being depressed by the printing or spacing key. A pin or stud, H, passes through side bar, 1), into lever F at right an glcs to the latter. This pin works in a slotin side bar, I), and it has a coiled spring, h, set in front of it, such spring having a bearin gwithin a shield or tube, H. By pressure on pin H lever F is drawn forward, releasing the detents and allowing the carriage to be pushed back to the starting-point. The carriage moves from left to right, being propelled by the coiledspring E, but the movement is arrested by the detents before described.

When it; is desired to space without printing, this is done by means of space-keys I,

which are sleeved upon a rod, 8, carried in bearings M on top plate, 0. The sleeve of keys I has an arm, J, which, when the sleeve is rocked, is brought into contact with the front end of lever F, depressing said lever and withdrawing the detent then in engagement, allowing the carriage to move one space. This clearly appears in Figs. 6, 7, and

The type-dial K (shown in Fig. 9) is circular in form and cut from thin sheet metal. It is large enough in circumference to allow of the placing on its rim of all the letters of the alphabet, both capital and lower case, the digits, punctuation-marks, &c. The rim of this dial is divided into as many tongues as there are characters represented in types. This is done by slitting the dial from its rim toward the center to give the tongue elasticity, and to permit of its being depressed when the type is struck. The types are made of vulcanized rubber upon a metal base, and are removabl y secured upon the type-dial by screws. The typedial has for its axis a vertical pin or stud, K, which projects above top plate, (J, and terminates in a circular disk, L. A vertical slot is made through pin K, and a pin, it, passes through said slot, its ends having a bearing in a collar, k, on top plate, (3. A coiled spring, surrounds pin K, being seated on the hub of a gear-wheel, O, hereinafter described, and its upper end against disk L. This spring holds the type-dial out of contact with the inking-ribbon, and the slot in pin K permits an up-and-down movement of said pin, whereby the typedial is forced onto the inking-ribbonwhen the disk L is depressed. The type-dial has two movements, one vertical, by which it is brought in contact with the inking-plate, and the other rotary, by which the type mounted thereon is broughtinto alignment with the slot in the inking-plate. Both motions are imparted to it by a leveror key, M, which is secured at its rear end upon a post or stud, M, just in front of the stud K.-

The construction of this lever is shown in Fig. 11 where M represents the lever proper; m, a slot in the outer end thereof; m, a thumbpiece, the lower end of which projects through slot at and terminates in a wed ge-shaped portion, m This lever may be secured to the stud M by means of a cap-piece carrying a sleeve. A pin passes through the ear-pieces on lever M and through said'sleeve. This cappiece is fixed upon stud M by a pin, and the ear-pieces rock on said pin, so that the movement of the lever from right to left will turn the pin in its bearings and thus rotate the type-dial by means of the segmentrack hereinafter described. Thetype-dialis revolved by means of a segment-rack, N, fastened on a plate, a, which is rigidly secured to the lower end of stud M. This segment-rack meshes with a gear-wheel, 0, carried by stud K. Gear-wheel 0 is provided with fixed pins 0 0, which project downward through holes in dial 1C. Thus it: will be apparent that; when the printing-key is moved in either direction stud M will be revolved, thereby swinging the rack in the direction of the motion of the lever and turning the gear-wheel, thus imparting through the fixed pins a rotary motion to the dial. The length of the segment-rackN corresponds to the distance over which the outer end of the printing-key must travel in' going from one side to the other of the indicator. It is evident that the dial will have a motion in the same direction as that of theprinting-lever, and the letters of the indicator being placed so as to correspond with the types on the typedial, any letter desired to be printedis brought into position under the plunger and over the slot in the bottom plate by simply bringing the key to a point over the corresponding letter on the indicator.

I provide an indicator consisting of two serrated bars, P P, in the form of a segment placed upon top plate, 0. These bars have IIO vertical slots p, extending from the bottom of 1 0 other characters are indicated upon a suitable lower-case letters should be placed on the typedial alternatelythat is to say, if lower-case a be placed at any given point on the type-dial,

capital A should be placed next to it; and

' slot to the right of the inner segment.

if the lower-case letters be indicated on the outer segment then the corresponding capital letters should be indicated opposite the next Thus,

if a be placed as indicated in Figs. 1 and 9, A

7 and the next letter to come into position lution of the dial is made.

over said slot. Hence, if the lever N be moved over the space between two slots of the outer circle, the type-dial will be revolved so as to move one letter past the slot in the bottom plate and bring the second letter into position over said slot. Thus, if a be placed on the type-dial and indicated on the outer segment, A being placed next to it on the typedial and indicated on the inner segment, followed byb on the type-dial, and indicated next to a on the outer segment, and it is desired to print a b, a movement of the printing-lever from a to bwill rotate the type-dial so as to make A pass the slot and bring b into position over the slot; but if desired to print A following a in the above arrangement, the thumbpiece is brought back to the first notches to the right on the inner circle and A is thereby brought into line. The printing key or lever M rests upon disk L, which it depresses every time a letter is printed. The outer end of this lever may swing from one end of the indicator to the other, and in so doing a complete revo- The handle m is slipped out or drawn back in slot m, according to the desire to print a letter indicated on the inner or outer circle of the indicator. The disk L bears upon a crank, Z, on rod 8, and as the disk is depressed it acts through crank Z to rock rod 8. Rod 8 has rigidly sleeved upon it an arm, It, which works through a slot in top plate, 0. When rod 8 is rocked, arm It comes in contact with lever F, depressing said lever, thus withdrawing the detent then in engage ment and allowing the carriage to move one space. Rod 8, with its crank, is shown in Fig.

15 and arm It in Fig. 13. Thus the spacing is accomplished by printin g-key M, or by means of the spacingkeys I, and independently of each other. The type-dial K, being secured upon the stud K, is depressed every time that the printing-lever is depressed. The typedial, carrying the types on its lower face, is forced upon an ink-ribbon, S, circular in form, which lies in a ribbon-plate, S, which forms the bottom plate of the carriage. Thus each letter is inked every time the type-dial K is depressed, except theone which passes through the slot on the paper. The bottom plate, S may be slipped into grooves in side bars, I).

Themechanism for forcing the type upon the paper consists of an arm, T, connected to the outer end of rod 8, and having a slotted end embracing a pin, a, on the end of a curved bar, U, which lies on top plate, (3, andmoves thereon in suitable guides. in Fig. 20 and arm T in Fig. 13. It has on its inner end apin, a, which is embraced by a slot in the lower end of an elbow-lever, W, Fig. 21, the latter being pivoted on a suitable standard, on top plate, 0. The end of the horizontal member of lever W rests upon the head of the plungerV. PlungerVmoves vertically in a guide, 22, which has a seat therein. A coiled spring, 0', surrounds plunger V and holds it out of contact with the type-dial, except when the lever is depressed. A crosssection through this plunger, and showing the .lever W, is shown in Fig. 19, and the guide 11 is shown in Fig. 16.

The operation of printing a letter is as follows: The printing-key M, being grasped by the operator, is brought to a point in one of the segments 1?, opposite the desired letter, when it is depressed, the wedge-shaped piece at being guided to the slot 19 by the beveled sides of the teeth of the segment. This pressure on the printing-key depresses disk L, which in turn bears upon the crank l on rod 8, thereby rocking said rod. As rod 8 rocks the arm T presses pin, it, thus drawing lever U backward. This movement of lever U acts, through the fixed pin a and the elbow-lever W, to depress plunger V, which in turn strikes the tongue of the dial directly beneath it and forces the letter carried thereon through the slot in the bottom plate and upon the paper.

Many of the parts which are herein described will be constructed in modified forms, and equivalents may often be used.

I have given the above particular description without interjecting description of modi fications, as such course usually tends to render the specification confused and not easily followed; but I do not intend by such particular description to limit my invention to its precise terms.

I disclaim the radially-slitted type-disk, as such, and also the mere combination thereof with the plunger used to depress the tongues and the mechanism used to operate such plunger.

I claim-- 1. In a type-writer, the combination, with a typedisk having upper and lower case letters alternately represented in types placed in a This curved bar is shown continuous series thereon, of an indicator hav ing the upper and lower case letters alternately arranged, but in different series, and a printing-lever adapted to said indicator, sub stantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a typewriter, the combination, with a pivoted printing key or lover, of a disk lying under the lever, a rod carrying an arm and adapted to be rocked by the lever, a plunger,

and means, substantially as described,for connecting the rod and plunger, 21.11 constructed and. operating substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a typewriter, the combination, with a printing-lever, of a rotating stud carrying a segmental rack, a gearqvheel operated-by said rack and having fixed pins, and a typedisk adapted to slide up and down on said pins and to be rotated thereby, substantially as (lQSCribvd, and for the purpose set forth.

4:. In a type-writer, the combination, with a printing-lever and rocking bar provided with a crank and a fixed arm,'and means substantially as described, between the crank and lever, of an escapement-lever constructed and arranged substantially as described, so that pressure on the printing-lever will operate the escapement, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a typewriter, the combination, with a feed-roller, of a. paper-holder having a downhapging skirtand a rocking bar, said holder being pivoted to said bar in such manner that it holds the paper upon said roller by its own weight, substantially as described.

Witnesses: SAM UEII S. BURT.

EPHRAIM BANNING, 0. (J. LINTHICUM. 

